Race and related grounds

Under the Code, every person has the right to be free from racial discrimination and harassment in the social areas of employment, services, goods, facilities, housing accommodation, contracts and membership in trade and vocational associations. You should not be treated differently because of your race or other related grounds, such as your ancestry, ethnicity, religion or place of origin.

Canada, its provinces and territories have strong human rights laws and systems in place to address discrimination. At the same time, we also have a legacy of racism – particularly towards Indigenous persons, but to other groups as well including African, Chinese, Japanese, South Asian, Jewish and Muslim Canadians – a legacy that profoundly permeates our systems and structures to this day, affecting the lives of not only racialized persons, but also all people in Canada.

Monday July 29, 2013, 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. The OHRC is partnering with the Learning Enrichment Foundation to host a second event in Toronto to introduce the new Policy on removing the “Canadian experience” barrier.

Tuesday February 16, 2016 - York University’s School of Public Policy & Administration, Institute for Social Research, and Centre for Human Rights and the Ontario Human Rights Commission invite you to attend a public lecture to look at new ways to stamp out racial profiling. Keynote speaker and renowned journalist Haroon Siddiqui will talk about existing and emerging forms of racial profiling, and a panel will offer a variety of perspectives.

December 1, 2015 -Speaking Notes: Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane (check against delivery). "Thank you for inviting me here to share in your 10th anniversary celebrations. I look around the room and see many friends and allies, and many people who represent the success stories of Ontario’s South Asian community."

March 21, 2016 - Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane addressed attendees at the inaugural e(RACE)r Summit on Race and Racism on Canadian University Campuses, hosted by Wilfrid Laurier University’s Diversity and Equity Office and the Office of Aboriginal Initiatives, on the United Nations (UN) Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Read her speech.

TORONTO – Today, a coalition of community and advocacy groups, as well as the Ontario Human Rights Commission, issued a joint statement calling on the Government of Ontario and police oversight bodies to immediately implement recommendations of the Honourable Justice Michael Tulloch from his Report of the Independent Police Oversight Review. This statement was prompted by recent events that highlight several police accountability issues that require immediate action. Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane delivered the following remarks at a press conference at Queen's Park.

Toronto - On November 30, 2017, the OHRC announced that it has launched a public interest inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination by the Toronto Police Service. Read OHRC Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane's remarks.

Toronto - On International Human Rights Day (December 10, 2018), the OHRC released A collective impact, the interim report on its inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service. Read OHRC Chief Commissioner Renu Mandhane's remarks.